Water Bottling Operations Slated for BC Inlets

At least 40 streams in four adjoining B.C. inlets north of Vancouver have been targeted for new water bottling operations, five groups revealed today. The bulk of the dozens of water bottling license applications--in Bute, Knight, Jervis and Toba Inlets--were filed in 2010 and are now in the hands of the new B.C. Ministry of Resource Operations.

"Right now, the Ministry of Natural Resource Operations is only
examining each project individually, and it does not have a mandate to
investigate the overall impact of taking water from at least 40 streams
in the same area," said Lannie Keller, spokesperson for Friends of Bute
Inlet. "This is an industrial operation by anyone's definition."

The water license applications are to remove up to 112.5 cubic metres
(almost 25,000 gallons) of water each day from each stream. Water will
be collected from a skiff through a pump or hose and funnel, and the
skiff will offload onto a barge and then transport the water by truck to
a bottling establishment.

"This is a completely new dimension in water exploitation, unlike
anything the public has seen before," says Daniel Bouman of the Sunshine
Coast Conservation Association. "The sheer number of applications, the
cumulative potential environmental impacts of the scheme, and certainly
the growing level of public concern all justify a full environmental
assessment."

North Island MLA Claire Trevena has already asked Coell to authorize an
environmental assessment of the cumulative impacts of the proposed water
operations. Andrew Gage, acting Executive Director of West Coast Environmental Law,
has asked Coell to extend the public comment period. In a letter to
Coell, Gage said the wrong questions were being asked by the Ministry of
Natural Resource Operations and that the proponent should be required
to provide detailed information about how the project will operate as a
whole.